In a 1997 The Larry King Live broadcast, Trump was asked about his relationships with Native American tribes after having had very public run ins with them. “I mean, I have very, very good relationships with a lot of the Indians and a lot of the Indian casinos at the high levels,” he said. A few years earlier at a 1993 Subcommittee on Native American Affairs hearing, Trump doubted Native American’s ability to govern themselves as sovereign nations seeing as they receive education, healthcare, and other longstanding treaty rights. Trump was suing over the Indian Rights Gaming Act, claiming it gained tribes an unfair advantage in the casino industry. “I listen about sovereign nation, the great sovereign nation, and yet $30 billion to all of the various programs was contributed to the sovereign nation for education, for welfare, for this, for that,” he said. “Yet the sovereign nation and the people of the sovereign nation have the right to vote in our country. I listen as to sovereign nation, all of the medical, all of the other treaties. I want to know, can Indians sign treaties with foreign nations? Can they go and sign a treaty with Germany? The answer is no. How is it a sovereign nation?”Read More on the Story:
Adrian Jawort: Trump’s DNC WikiLeaks and Tribal Sovereignty (Indian Country Media Network August 30, 2017)
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